And the three-time Oscar- and Tony-nominated actress couldn’t be more overjoyed about motherhood — especially considering her transition back to work was relatively easy.

“Yes, I had just had the baby,” Linney told PEOPLE at the Sunday premiere of her new film Genius at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, explaining that Bennett was with her while she worked on two recent films.

“I had done Mr. Holmes and then I did [Genius] right after that. Both movies were in London,” she says.

“But the [sizes] of those parts were perfect for someone who [had] just had a child. I was able to get my feet back into work and still have time with my infant. It was a wonderful time.”

It’s been almost two and a half years since Laura Linneygave birth to son Bennett Armistead, and now she’s opening up as to why she kept her pregnancy under wraps.

“You were on our show and pregnant, and we didn’t even know!” Kelly Ripa told the actress on Friday’s episode of Live with Kelly.

“Well, I was an older mother-to-be, and it had taken me a very long time to have a child,” replies the Love Actually star, who is now 52. “I wanted to make sure that my child actually arrived, and was safe and healthy.

“I just was very quiet about it — I didn’t hide it intentionally, I just didn’t advertise it,” she adds. “So it was the right thing for me and my family.”